Thank you to everyone who attended the September 17 Countywide Planning Commission public hearing and/or submitted written comments to share your feedback on the draft STR regulations for unincorporated Summit County. In response to extensive community input, the Countywide Planning Commission forwarded a recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) approve the proposed regulations with several recommended modifications:

1.The original draft included a requirement for a local managing agent. The Planning Commission has recommended the County change the managing agent requirement to ‘responsible agent’ instead of ‘local agent,’ with a three strike policy for non-responsiveness, after which the owner would need to get a local agent in order to retain their STR permit. The responsible agent is a contact person responsible for responding to all issues within 60 minutes, 24/7, either by phone, text or in-person, with no requirement that this contact person be located within Summit County or within 30 minutes driving distance of the STR property. 2.The original draft included occupancy limits of 2 persons per bedroom plus two additional occupants. The Planning Commission has recommended the County amend the proposed occupancy limits to allow two persons per bedroom plus two additional occupants, or one person per 300 sq. ft., whichever is more. Also, the Planning Commission recommended a loft should be recognized as an additional sleeping room allowing 2 occupants, provided the loft complies with relevant sleeping room building code safety standards. 3.The Planning Commission recommended establishing a Class 2 administrative conditional use permit (CUP) process for the County to review requests for:a.Additional occupancy that is greater than the occupancy limits specified in the STR regulations based on the number of bedrooms or unit square footage.b.Any proposed STR unit that is 6,000 sq. ft. or greater, and/or anySTRunit proposing an occupancy of 20 people or more.4.The original draft proposed parking requirements of 1 parking space per bedroom, with a minimum of 2 parking spaces required for all units. The Planning Commission has recommended the County revise the proposed parking standards to require a minimum of 1 parking space per unit up to a maximum of 5 outdoor parking spaces. Also, require the number of available on-site parking spaces to be included in the advertising, and require STR owners/managers to align the numberof allowed vehicles with the number of parking spaces as advertised and available on-site. Allow requests for additional outdoor parking spaces to be reviewed through a Class 2 administrative conditional use permit (CUP). 5.The original draft included a 2-year permit revocation period during which no new STR permit applications could be approved for a STR property. The Planning Commission recommended the County modify the permit revocation provisions to allow a new property owner to be eligible to apply for a new STR permit, in situations where there is a legitimate sale of the property to a buyer unaffiliated with the previous owner whose permit was revoked.6.The Planning Commission has recommended that notification to the neighboring property owners should be provided, to inform the neighbors of the STR permit and the protocol to report any issues or concerns.

In response to significant input from the Keystone and Copper Mountain resort communities, the County is also taking a hard look at potential options to provide more distinction for the differing characteristics of STRs within the resort areas. Alternative occupancy provisions appropriate for resort area properties is a particular area of focus, and work is underway to evaluate potential options that could best work within Summit County’s resort communities. We appreciate the thoughtful and well documented input from our resort area residents, property owners and managers and are taking this into consideration as we work to refine the draft regulations for BOCC review.

BOCC Public Hearing: The BOCC will review the draft regulations at a public hearing on Tuesday, October 23 at 1:30 p.m. at the Frisco Adventure Park Day Lodge, located at 616 Recreation Way in Frisco. Please note the change to the BOCC’s regular meeting location due to early voting at the County Courthouse. At the October 23 meeting, the BOCC will review the draft STR regulations and the suggested changes recommended by the Countywide Planning Commission, and hear public testimony. This meeting will include a public hearing, during which members of the public are invited to provide comment.

The current draft of the proposed STR regulations can be found on the Summit County website at www.summitcountyco.gov/STR. Please note that the current draft does not reflect the revisions that have been recommended by the Countywide Planning Commission. These recommended revisions will be made if they are supported by the BOCC. Please look for a future blog update with a link to view the October 23 meeting materials online, once the materials are finalized and posted to the County website.